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"Company's Claims of Clean Tailings 'Misleading': Ex-Employee"

"Imperial Metals describes substance spilled from dam as 'very close to drinking water.'"

"A mining worker is accusing his former employer of "misleading" the public on toxins contained in its Mount Polley copper and gold mine tailings, and says Imperial Metals Ltd. is attempting to "sugarcoat" its dam accident that saw 10 million cubic metres of water pour into Hazeltine Creek in the Cariboo region of British Columbia.

The Cariboo Regional District declared a local state of emergency on Wednesday morning, two days after all water use was banned for residents the area. The tailings dam operated by Imperial Metals broke open around 3 a.m. on Monday morning, and the resulting spill also saw 4.5 million cubic metres of solid material dumped into the watershed.

In a tense and confrontational public meeting in the town of around 300 residents Tuesday afternoon, the company's president apologized for the spill, but denied the released slurry contained toxins such as mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium."